Maffrey’s, says co-owner Jeff Starks, is dedicated to “good” goods.

Items from small American companies. Women- and minority-owned. Eco-friendly businesses. Socially-conscious businesses. Businesses that give back to their communities in some way. Businesses that make handcrafted products.

And just about everything you’ll find on the shelves in this small, but superabundantly inventoried boutique, boasts one or more of these traits. Most have great origin stories, too.

But some, like the small animal-shaped nightlights Stark put on the counter just last week, just belong there.

“You push the back of its head and the light comes on,” he says. “It’s a silly little item. Made in China. It has zero of our values but I bought 24 of them last week and now I have six left.”

There are some things, he says, that just make you smile.

“That, too, is a ‘good’ good. And sometimes, that’s enough.”

Starks and his husband, Matt Engel, not only opened Maffrey’s (a combination of their names, Matt and Jeffrey) during the pandemic. They expanded. Why? Because of alcohol.

“During the pandemic, everyone was a bartender,” Starks jokes, “so our bar section blew up.”

Three years in, they’ve identified the top sellers and although the food/drink portion of their inventory — about 20 percent, he estimates — has been sleeked-down, its now made up of proven winners. “It’s way more vibrant.”

A recent visit, in fact, saw me walking out the door with Yes Cocktail Company’s Smoked Old Fashioned Bitters-Infused Cocktail Cubes ($16) — beautiful sugar cubes in elegant shades of burnished rose and brandy. It was to be a stocking stuffer but a mishap cracked the lovely test tube in which they were packaged.

The silver lining here was that I got to engage in quality control. The verdict: I’m great at picking out gifts.

I mean, sure, I had help. Starks, a Disney merchandising veteran of 25 years, knows a thing or two about curating store shelves.

Maffrey’s is the boutique he’d been dreaming on, journaling on, for decades. And he and Engel have done a bang-up job of collecting the dream gifts that will make your favorite foodies squeal as they tear off the wrapping paper and either plan the how, what and when of using it — or simply unscrew the cap and stick their fingers in for a taste.

Yes Cocktail Co.

Maffrey’s carries this California company’s liquid mixers, as well as those aforementioned sugar cubes. And the husband-and-wife team behind it fits several of its values. Starks uses them at home, too.

“Everything they make is super fresh,” he says. “When we get them in they’ve just been made. Yes Cocktail Co. is actually the only brand we’ve carried the entire time we’ve been open.”

At $20 a bottle they’re not inexpensive, a fact that Starks says makes them second-look-worthy.

“The fact that we’ve carried them all these years and people still come back for it says something,” he says, reminding everyone that they’re wonderful for mixing mocktails, too.”

Available in a variety of flavors (Blood Orange & Chili Pepper? Pass the clipboard!) and even seasonal ones like Ginger Snap and Cranberry Spice, check ’em out.

The Wine Savant

When a group of friends in Brooklyn, N.Y., collaborated to create quality wine glasses, people like Starks took note of the beautiful packaging and design. Its success has since launched a line of unique decanters and glasses, some of which you’ll find at Maffrey’s including a gorgeous boxed set featuring a decanter along with two glasses, stainless steel whiskey balls, stone coasters, tongs and more ($60). A similar set featuring gimlet glasses goes for $40.

Starks envisions The Wine Savant‘s makers like the Brat Pack gang from “St. Elmo’s Fire,” he says. “Hipsters developing glassware for the cool kids.”

A nice consideration for the hip, cool, 21+ kid on your shopping list.

Sunday Night Foods

The creator of this Iowa-borne company’s luxe dessert sauces named it for that moment in the week when people slow down and spend time with the ones they love. She gives back to the National Alliance on Mental Illness. And the company’s policy, says Starks, is a powerful one.

“Sunday Night Foods‘ whole thing is that it’s ‘one product with a thousand uses,’” he says, and with the roster of recipes available on their website — not to mention the cute cards on display near these $13 jars of deliciousness — really cashes that check.

“You can bake with it. You can make cocktails with it. You can make frosting out of it. You can use it in s’mores. You can put it on ice cream, pretzels, potato chips, churros. … ”

He doesn’t have to get Forrest Gumpian with the point. It’s dark, delicious, comes in several varieties and makes a great gift.

“No matter what they want to do with it, they’re going to love it.”

Milk-n-Honey Tea Company

For those of you saying, “but where are the local makers … ?” Here’s one that Maffrey’s has been carrying almost since the beginning. The local couple behind this tea brand each has their own day job, but still find time to conceive of new loose leaf blends, and then make them by hand. What’s more, they showcase local artists amid a product they make for people to enjoy in solo moments or while spending time with the ones they love. One of Stark’s favorites, especially its name, is the Pink Fla-Mango, for its fruitiness and its fun, local name. Regular-sized bags go for $12 while the six mini-bag holiday gift set clocks in at $23.

Other hot items to look out for: Fat Crow Gourmet handcrafted jams as well as killer snark in the form of cocktail napkins — $7 for a pack of 20. They’re great as a quick, fun gift or part of a larger “build,” says Stars. Cocktail baskets. Charcuterie-themed boxes. You name it. Same goes for the cleverly named bar-centric books. Case in point: “Gone with the Gin: Cocktails with a Hollywood Twist.”

Notable, I think, is the preponderance of reasonably-priced items. It’s not by accident.

“When you fall into the ’boutique’ category, people automatically assume you carry really expensive stuff, but we have things at every price point,” says Starks. “Customers really appreciate that. They can spend less than $20 and walk out with something really great to give to their loved one.”

And an important piece in the joy-of-giving process in this case, is that every purchase — here or at other small businesses around the metro — also gives back in other ways.

“When you spend money locally, 40 to 60 percent of that goes directly back into the community,” says Starks, who says he and Engel are looking to grow the consumables side of their foodie inventory. “It supports the American dream.”

Maffrey’s: 231 N. Orange Ave. in Orlando, 407-484-6184; maffreys.com

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